GTX 560 SLI or GTX 660

[DivineMedia]

So I've been looking at various cards and these are the most appealing

 

I was wondering if the performance gain of 2x GTX 560 non-ti SLI is better than 1x GTX 660 non-ti

 

Also I wish to add that the heat output and energy consumption don't matter right now just the performance gain and were I'm looking is NCIX and the single 560 is only $100 w/ MIR and the 660 is $195 w/ MIR

 

I'm also so getting a case that's $50 and is on sale so take that into account too

[foxhound590]

660

[LIGISTX]

I think I would say 560 SLI.... assuming a 50% performance increases, it should definitely be better than a single 660

[PCBudgetSolutions]

660

This

[LIGISTX]

Although, 560 only has 1 GB RAM doesn't it... that isn't enough anymore. So 660 might be better

[DivineMedia]

Although, 560 only has 1 GB RAM doesn't it... that isn't enough anymore. So 660 might be better

don't forget that I said 560's in SLI

[TechSage]

don't forget that I said 560's in SLI

VRAM doesn't stack in SLI so you essentially have 1GB in SLI, performance will be crippled because of 1GB Vram, and a GTX 660 is the same as a GTX 580 and the 660 has more VRAM, less power consumption, less heat output etc. 

 

Get the 660, much better. 1GB will not give you more performance even after SLI.

[tedjani]

660

[WoodenMarker]

Don't even get a 660. Get a 7850 that outperforms it for cheaper or a 7870 for a bit more.

[DivineMedia]

VRAM doesn't stack in SLI so you essentially have 1GB in SLI, performance will be crippled because of 1GB Vram, and a GTX 660 is the same as a GTX 580 and the 660 has more VRAM, less power consumption, less heat output etc. 

 

Get the 660, much better. 1GB will not give you more performance even after SLI.

Okay then where does the performance from SLI configs come from

[Quick-]

I'm not sure if it's in your budget, but you can get a 760 for $255~ with Splinter Cell Blacklist ($60) (Atleast on newegg)

However, between those two cards the 660 would be the best.

[TechSage]

I'm not sure if it's in your budget, but you can get a 760 for $255~ with Splinter Cell Blacklist ($600) (Atleast on newegg)

However, between those two cards the 660 would be the best.

Wow, it's $600?

[TechSage]

Okay then where does the performance from SLI configs come from

The performance stacks when you add another GPU because they work together, but all textures are loaded onto both (or one) but that's besides the point. The Video Memory is shared. So you have 3 GTX 670's in 3 way SLI and each card has 3gb VRAM then you have 3gb VRAM in total to be used.

 

Just like how you don't add the clockspeeds of each core on a CPU. So you wouldn't say your FX 4170 has a clock speed of 16,8 GHz because it has 4 cores and a clockspeed of 4.2ghz. Each core will run at the same speed.

[CarDesinr]

Get a 2 GB 660 and overclock and it will out perform the dual 560Ti s. the single 660 is also quieter and less power thirsty so its nicer to listen to, cheaper in the long run, and nice to listen to with less fans turning. Go for an EVGA or msi card with 2 fans so you can overclock more as well.

[Mentalguy]

try ebay? 660ti for about 200

[CyberneticTitan]

Save up for a 760 if you can, but of the two, 660.

 

Lower power usage and heat. 

[Wingfan]

660 would be best from those 2 choices. I say wait on the case save a very little more and get a 760, that's if your looking for performance now or you want the case for looks. Just my thought

[Undieing_Lust]

GTX 660 or 760 

[Quick-]

I'm not sure if it's in your budget, but you can get a 760 for $255~ with Splinter Cell Blacklist ($600) (Atleast on newegg)

However, between those two cards the 660 would be the best.

Wow, it's $600?

Hahah good catch :p

[TechSage]

A gtx 760 is basically a 660ti on steroids so I would go for 760 over the 660 if you can go for it.

[S2000Gan]

Raw performance: 560 SLI
Worried about VRAM: 660

[DivineMedia]

The performance stacks when you add another GPU because they work together, but all textures are loaded onto both (or one) but that's besides the point. The Video Memory is shared. So you have 3 GTX 670's in 3 way SLI and each card has 3gb VRAM then you have 3gb VRAM in total to be used.

 

Just like how you don't add the clockspeeds of each core on a CPU. So you wouldn't say your FX 4170 has a clock speed of 16,8 GHz because it has 4 cores and a clockspeed of 4.2ghz. Each core will run at the same speed.

 

So just thought of this so if you get more performance with SLI GTX xxx (560) would the cards have a massive FPS drop in games that use over 1GB. Also I would think games like Crysis 3 would have much higher RAM demands then others on max settings but you can run it on max on a decent framerate (can't find a specific average but they are pretty damn smooth) with duel 560's while many 2GB cards have an issue running it that high how is this possible when duel 560's have 1GB effective

[VESIUS]

Honestly, if you cannot go with the 660ti don't get the 660.. Get an AMD card at the equivalent price, will most likely have better performance anyway.

[Chri5]

get a 7850 or a 7870 if you have that sort of budget for those cards 

[TechSage]

So just thought of this so if you get more performance with SLI GTX xxx (560) would the cards have a massive FPS drop in games that use over 1GB. Also I would think games like Crysis 3 would have much higher RAM demands then others on max settings but you can run it on max on a decent framerate (can't find a specific average but they are pretty damn smooth) with duel 560's while many 2GB cards have an issue running it that high how is this possible when duel 560's have 1GB effective

FPS will drop if games use over 1GB VRAM because the graphics card has to resort to system memory, so it has to travel all the way to the RAM. In the heat of battle, this process is not as fast as VRAM which is on the card. So running out of VRAM constantly is not going to give you any performance improvement by adding another card. 

Once you crank up the settings, the game looks better. But the reason it looks better is because there is more detail. More detail equals more textures being loaded to your video memory. But that's not all the matters, if you play at 1080p then 1gb vram isn't going to cut it.

When you play Crysis 3 (Assuming VRAM isnt the issue) if you are getting 45FPS with 3 GB cards. Then you switch over to 1gb cards. you might drop to about 20FPS. 

Considering your cards aren't Ti, I don't what performance will be like, but it certainly won't be able to show it's true power. So either get the GTX 760 or an equivalent AMD Card. Some people already posted some amazing cards already.